https://gofund.me/3983ee19
A lot of the costs involved in the initial phase of the search mission were privately funded. The first mountain rescue team led by Pemba Gelje Sherpa worked voluntarily without any fees(except expenses involved with food/fuel) for the first 4 days. Only one additional day that we had requested had to be paid for. Same with the Rafting/Kayaking team arranged by Indra Rai who searched Bagmati river from Chobar and down. Only transportation/food arrangements had to be made.
Initial crowd funding started with the Nepali music app Noodle, where people donated by purchasing Jerusha’s songs. This covered some of the early expenses for trekkers/campers who were searching on foot overnight.
Funds from the GoFundMe campaign was only used later to pay for the trekking team that were employed. During the first round, 42 paid trekkers in teams of two were employed to scout at 21 different locations encircling Katuwal Daha. The second time, 12 trekkers in teams of two went onto to start at 6 different locations at first and then each team moved through 2 different checkpoints over the next two days, covering 18 different localities.
Currently, a private investigator is on the field looking into the matter.
NOTES:
– Due to Dashain/Tihar festivities and it being a high trekking season (plus the disaster at Manaslu), we had a really hard time finding trekkers, rescue workers or even security guards and paid volunteers. The team employed was a hard find for us and even they had to resume back on to their treks after the two scouting missions that they were employed for.
– Private Investigator/Detective agencies also are also virtually non-existent in Nepal. We were able to find only one registered agency and even with them, it took quite a while to get the job started.
– For the time being, we are considering new areas to be scouted and at the same time, making arrangements for a team to be on stand-by. Once we get any new information, we will deploy trekkers volunteers again. All the while, family, friends and volunteers are still searching on their own accord.
– The intention of the family with whatever remains of the fund is to eventually create an emergency fund to aid similar cases in the future.
TOTAL FUND COLLECTED:
Rs. 10,76,608.00
Total Expenses Paid Out:
Rs. (2,49,000.00)
Remaining Fund:
Rs. 827,608.00
Initial advance of 50,000 was paid with cash. Rest was paid electronically and with a cheque.
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